Chasing Clouds
by everycloudhas
Summary: I am never, ever going to catch you, am I?
1. Something Unexpected

(一目惚れ)

"Orihime, can you please stop fidgeting?"

Said girl pouted and asked unhappily, "who is fidgeting?"

Arisawa Tatsuki shook her head and removed the slender, fair hand that was worrying the top of her best friend's head.

With the thin wrist encircled by her hand, Tatsuki waved the guilty appendage in question.

Inoue Orihime smiled sheepishly at her friend and after reclaiming her cold hand, she decided to lace it together with her other equally cold hand in case she started to show her nervousness again.

"Tatsuki-chan, why are we doing this?" She asked, not for the first time.

"Doing what?" Tatsuki answered and grinned.

Orihime leaned closer to her and whispered, "This matchmaking session."

Tatsuki shook her head, again. In a firm voice to assure the nervous girl, she repeated what she had been saying for the past few days since she arranged for this blind da... Whoops! She meant,

"It's not a matchmaking session. I bumped into a childhood friend of mine who just happened to be at this university with us. His cousin as well. I thought since his cousin appeared to share the same interest as you, why not introduce him to you. A new friend." Tatsuki smiled reassuringly.

Orihime appeared suspicious. She has a right to be. Arisawa Tatsuki has always been like a big sister, almost a mother hen to her ever since rescuing her from mean girls bullies.

"But you kept talking about this Ishida Uryuu. Should not you at least have talked a little about your friend. One would have thought I should be making friends, not a friend. Unless... " Orihime eyed her friend warily. "You have a thing for this childhood friend of yours."

Tatsuki burst out laughing.

"What?! Me and Ichigo?! Why, that's..."

"Is that his name?" Orihime interrupted, interested in this seemingly childhood friend of her boyish friend.

Tatsuki nodded. "Yeah. Kurosaki Ichigo. Didn't I mention it to you?"

"That is what I have been trying to say. For the last few days, it was completely about Ishida-kun." Orihime said in exasperation.

"Ishida-kun, eh?"

"What would you expect me to address him? We are of the same age. 'San' might be inappropriate and you know I do not go around calling people by their surnames." Orihime grumbled.

"You could call him by his given name." Tatsuki teased.

"Like you and 'your' Ichigo?" Orihime fired back.

"He's not my Ichigo! Putting me and Ichigo together is like saying our country is bosom buddies with a certain East Asian country. Pun fully intended, right, bosom buddy?" Tatsuki joked as she gestured with her hands, fingers moving inwards her palms.

"Tatsuki-chan, that is so mean!" Orihime folded her arms across her rather impressive chest. She glared at her friend.

"I'm not going to apologize. Your two 'friends' are the envy of many 'friendless' women. You should be the one apologizing to me though."

"Huh?" Orihime uttered in complete befuddlement. "For what should I be apologizing for?"

"For suggesting that there could be something going on between me and Ichigo."

"What is wrong with him?"

"Nothing. It's just that it''ll never happen. Me and him."

"Then how about Kuro-Kurosaki-kun," She looked to her friend for confirmation.

"Yeah. It's Kurosaki, Kurosaki Ichigo." Tatsuki answered her and wondered where was all these questions leading?

Orihime leveled a steely gaze at her.

"Then how about Kurosaki-kun and I?"

"What about you and Ichigo?" Now it was Tatsuki's turn to be puzzled.

Orihime smiled innocently.

"Kurosaki-kun and I as a couple."

"What?! You and him! Impossible! Ishida is more suited for you." Tatsuki blurted after falling for the trap.

"I knew it!" Orihime shouted, accusingly. "You are trying to h-hook me up with Ishida-kun." She stumbled over the word in her rush to strike out at her interfering friend.

Damn!

Busted!

"That's not what it is. I just want you to make more friends."

"Friend, you mean. Anyway, I am leaving. Goodbye, Tatsuki-chan." Orihime gave her friend a look of disappointment. She was getting really tired of Tatsuki always thinking of what she should or should not do. She started to walk away but she was stopped by the swift movement of her wrist being trapped by her athletic friend.

"Tatsuki-chan," Orihime began to say with more than a touch of annoyance in her voice.

"No. You listen to me, Orihime... "

"Yoi, Tatsuki."

Saved by the 'strawberry'.

Tatsuki let out a grateful breath of relief. She felt the thin wrist of the princess' stiffened.

"Orihime, what's wrong?" She asked a blushing Orihime.

Not that unusual for Orihime.

Her cheeks flared up over the slightest thing.

But this?

Over someone she has never met.

"Let go of me, Tatsuki-chan." Orihime's breathless voice was barely above a whisper.

"This your friend, Tatsuki?"

Tatsuki smirked, wickedly. She turned Orihime around and shoved the slightly shivering girl towards the newcomer.

"Yea. Kurosaki Ichigo, meet Inoue Ori... " Whatever she was going to say died at her all-of-a- sudden-beyond-dried throat because...

Kurosaki Ichigo was kissing Inoue Orihime!

(デイ一プキス)


	2. Something Totally Unexpected

(あい)

Inoue Orihime's mind was screaming 'No!'.

Even as her trembling body pressed itself closer to the one she was kissing.

A person she has never met till today.

Her sensible brain continued to protest, whereas her body, heart and especially her mouth and lips were just not paying any attention to it.

It felt so wrong, so wicked and yet she wanted to continue doing it.

Heart pounding so fast, she could hardly make out as to what her best friend was yapping about and strangely, she did not care.

Not one bit.

Kurosaki Ichigo caressed the soft body of the girl he has just met.

A girl he has only just met.

And he was kissing her.

She seemed to fit perfectly in his arms.

It was wrong. So very wrong. He should not be taking advantage of her. But he could not seem to find himself stopping for any reason.

One single reason.

He could almost hear his childhood friend going on about something, but when her tongue decided to play along with his.

Damn! If he give a shit!

"That's the shy princess you were going to introduce me to, as she and I shared a common interest. She doesn't seem to be so bashful, does she?" Ichigo's cousin, Ishida Uryuu broke into Arisawa Tatsuki's horrified, struck-dumbed by what she was witnessing, nightmarish scene.

"Huh? What? Yes... No." Tatsuki's brain and mouth were still not co-operating with each other.

"If that is what you consider as bashful, I do wonder what would you concede as being bold?" Ishida mused.

Tatsuki felt the need to defend her friend but the evidence of the passionate act playing out in front of them were undeniable.

Still, she wanted to say something.

"I don't know what has come over her." She began tentatively.

"Maybe she found Kurosaki simply irresistible or vice versa." Ishida supplied his drool explanation which earned for himself an unfriendly glare.

"And here I thought you would have make an appropriate friend for Orihime."

"She is finding that Kurosaki is more 'friendly' for her." Ishida reasoned.

"This is the first and only time she is behaving like this. And don't make any derisive remarks. I know her. She has an almost permanent blush on her face because of her naiveté."

"Maybe you don't know her as well as you think you do. And if it is of any consolation, this is the first and hopefully, the only time Kurosaki is behaving totally out of his character as well." Ishida prayed for it be be true. He was feeling rather uncomfortable with the public display of affection on show.

"How long do you think they have known each other?" Tatsuki asked hopefully.

"What make you think that?"

Tatsuki waved towards the kissing couple. "You don't expect me to believe they... " Once again, she pointed to the two apparently very close friends. "They are behaving that way even though they've just met each other." She guessed.

"Could be. Why don't you ask them?"

"That's what I should've done before we drew a crowd. Ichigo! Orihime!" Tatsuki shouted.

There was no reaction.

"Oh, for the love... "

"There's more than enough love going around."

"Shut up, Ishida! You're not helping!" Tatsuki stomped towards the still-at-it couple, in the mind to pull them apart.

Ichigo must have sensed the approaching interference for he slowly removed his lips from the the girl in his arms.

He gazed down upon the bright brown eyes shinning with curiosity back at him.

Reluctantly, he separated his heated body from hers.

But not entirely, for he circled the slim waist and drew her close to his side.

The other side.

The side away from the advancing danger.

There was a tiny squeak and she leaned closer against him.

Ichigo smiled, mentally before turning to face Tatsuki with a scowl to show his displeasure.

"What do you want, Tatsuki?"

Tatsuki, angered by his careless question snapped at him. "What do I want?! The two of you are creating a spectacle and you're asking me, what do I want?!"

"Are we?" Ichigo looked to his cousin for clarification.

Ishida pondered, seriously. "You might be." He answered, flippantly.

"Are you blind?!"

"Tatsuki, you might want to tone down with your shouting. You are attracting a lot of eyeballs." Ichigo cheekily advised her.

Tatsuki was ready to blow a fuse.

Ichigo gazed at the beautiful girl by his side, "You don't mind, do you?"

Orihime did not know if he was asking about the kiss or what Tatsuki had deemed as a spectacle so she just shook her head.

Ichigo grinned.

"See, Tatsuki. She didn't mind." He informed her.

"She... She... You don't even know her name!"

He turned the blushing girl to face him and with his free hand, he gently stroked her red cheeks, "Of course, I know her name. It's Orihime, Inoue Orihime, right?" He asked her softly as he delicately brushed away the hair that the light breeze and the accompanying nod has caused it to hide her lovely face from his hungry eyes.

Orihime was set adrift on the golden brown eyes of Ichigo. She was floating... on that charming smile. She ached to lay her fingers on those clever lips that had caused her to feel so alive.

"Orihime?" The tantalising lips were moving but no words were heard by her. She was falling... falling... and she knew he will be there to catch her.

"Orihime?" Ichigo called out to her even though she was right in front of him.

"Look! What you've done to her! She's scared stiff! Orihime!" Tatsuki grabbed Orihime by the elbow.

Roused by her rough touch, Orihime looked bewildered at Ichigo, "K-Kurosaki-k-k... "

Ichigo silenced her by placing his fingers on her quivering, stammering lips.

"It's Ichigo, Orihime. You would not want to be calling your husband by his family name, would you?" He told her in all seriousness.

"What the fuck!" In her shock, Tatsuki's hand fell away from the silent princess.

"Is this some kind of bullshit joke?! Are you in on this as well, Ishida?!" Tatsuki hotly accused.

Ishida pushed up his glasses. "Of course not. And I sincerely doubt that Kurosaki is joking. One more thing, Arisawa-san, please remember you are a lady, so do mind your language." Ishida's disapproval was plain to hear.

Tatsuki felt like hitting someone, preferably the orange-haired rakish bastard and then the self-righteous four-eyed prick.

Deciding to put her words to action, she smacked her hand against her palm and turning, she went limp and stared...

Ichigo, one knee on the ground held both of Orihime's small hands with his bigger ones,

"Orihime, please make my dream come true. Will you be willing to spend your lifetime with me?"

(いちむ)


End file.
